I have to admit…

I didn’t feel that sad when Tupac was found dead from gun-shots.

While I understood the importance of Lady Di and what a tremendous person and role-model she was to so many, I didn’t feel any personal pain – it was just what it was.

When Michael Jackson passed away, I saw how our pop-culture lost an icon, but again, it didn’t truly impact me.

And there’s Ronald Reagan.

With each of these public figure’s passing, I understood the significance and I paid homage to their lives (okay, maybe not so much Tupac…) but I didn’t feel any direct personal hmm… what’s the word?  ”Effect” from their passing.  Life went on.  I was detached.

Not Steve Jobs though for some reason.  His recent passing (Oct 5th, 2011) definitely affected me more than any other public/celebrity deaths.  I admired him.  This is not to say he was any greater or lesser of a role-model/influence than say… Reagan or Lady Di, but it’s to say I truly respected and had greater interest in what he had to bring to the world.

Considering the fact that I am well… a nerd at heart and dare I say one that likes to “fight da power” and challenge authority, his contributions to our world aside, it was what Steve stood for that truly spoke to me.

His beliefs that are embodied in such famous quotes as:

“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?”

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.“

His beliefs spoke to me.  They inspired me.  They motivated me.

And they gave me hope.  They gave me hope for humanity; for our progression as mankind in this truly messed up times.  They made me less cynical and jaded at our civilization and how so many “wrong things” are happening.

They gave me the belief that there is a group of people out there who are BIG thinkers, who are out to change the world for the better.  And I can be a contributor to that group.

So it is with admiration and sadness that I say, “R.I.P Steve Jobs.”

Raymond Fong